Letters to the Editor

Pierre Derouche (citoyen français):

I am opposed to Turkey’s entering the European Union and I have much sympathy for the numerous Armenians [in France] who have become more French than the Duponts and the Durands. But what does the PS [Socialist Party] think it is doing in seeking to punish as criminals those who refuse to admit the existence of a genocide against the Armenians? Why not also punish those who deny the mass crimes of Stalin, Mao or Pol Pot (and they are numerous)? Why not also fine or send to prison those who have dared to claim that no plane crashed into the Pentagon in September 2001? When will our representatives begin treating us as adults? We are old enough to research subjects of this nature ourselves and to form our own opinions. It is in guaranteeing that the necessary documentary evidence is available – both for and against a given proposition – that we will make democracy work, not by threatening heretics.

Jean-Louis Caccomo (maître de conférences
en économie à l'université de Perpignan):

Il a belle allure, le déclin américain, périodiquement annoncé (souhaité ?) par nos intellectuels en lutte... La France devrait se mobiliser à l'ONU pour demander que soient appliqués des quotas dans l'attribution des prix Nobel reflétant plus justement la diversité culturelle dans le monde. Mais les astrophysiciens, chimistes, biologistes ou économistes du monde entier qui veulent travailler sérieusement (avec des moyens réels) et librement (en toute indépendance, car une science manipulée n'est plus une science), où trouvent-ils meilleur asile si ce n'est aux Etats-Unis ?

(Unfortunately, the letters amount to tokens.)